The Art of the RSVP

I helped out my mom and her friend on Sunday with a big wedding shower for 25 ladies. Over lunch, I was talking with the Mother of the Bride about the upcoming big day, and how they were in the last stages of planning. With about 5 weeks to go, they were coming up on the RSVP deadline, but were still missing a good deal of RSVP cards from guests.

This prompted the question from me, is this a generational thing? I have noticed a good deal of slack around RSVP-ing when it comes to digital invites like Evite from my age group, but one would think that with a gorgeously designed snail-mail invite, one would actually RSVP promptly. The mom surprisingly said that many women her age don't RSVP either, and the group of us all agreed, we just don't understand this! Where did this Miss Manners detail slip?

Planners of events, especially one as big as a wedding, need to have the RSVP in hand to manage the appropriate amount of food, drinks, and table settings. I try to keep this in mind if I get invited somewhere, to not procrastinate on sending in my RSVP, whether its an Evite, a wedding invite, or a birthday party email chain. The hosts will thank us :)

Have you seen issues with people replying to RSVP's too? What do you think, is it a slip?